2010 State Tournament

Wild action throughout 1A semifinals

By Matt Pfiffner

The 2010 version of the Class 1A semifinals can best be described as wild.

Stunning decisions, last-second wins and crazy scrambles were seen from start to finish in a wildly entertaining semifinal round Friday night in Des Moines.

The biggest story to come out of the semifinals was a sad note, as two-time State champion Clay Welter of Don Bosco was forced to injury default in the third period of his match with Michael Jensen of Graettinger-Terril after injuring a shoulder. Jensen had just scored a takedown on the edge of the mat for a 6-4 lead with 1:21 left in the bout when Welter could not continue, laying on the mat in obvious pain for several minutes.

It was a pretty rough night for the Dons compared to recent seasons, although they did push a trio of wrestlers - Ben McMahon at 119, two-time State champ Cole Welter at 135 and 189-pounder Taylor Kettman - into the finals. The Dons were 3-3 on the night.

The great action started right away, so I'll just highlight some of the moments from each weight class with some comments from some of the winners.

• 103 - The semifinals went according to form, as No. 2 Brance Simms of Twin River Valley and No. 3 Jordan Bremer of Woodbury Central won handily. They will meet for the second time this season, for the gold, as Simms won by a point in mid-January.

• 112 - A big showdown here. Top-ranked Tyler Shulista of Alburnett and No. 2 Sawyer Farris of New London/WMU met in the semis for the second year in a row. Farris won last year on his way to the crown at 103, but Shulista took Farris down to his back for the fall in 3:26 this time after a scoreless first period.
  
  "A lot of redemption right there. I had to pick it up in the second period and get it over with. I snapped him down and got a front headlock. I thought why not try it and get it over with quick," Shulista said. "This feels a lot better. He made me feel like crap last year and he can fell like crap this year."
  
  Shulista will meet No. 3 Kody Krenz of Louisa-Muscatine in the finals, who defeated No. 4 Beau Westpfahl of Jesup, 4-2.

• 119 - No. 3 McMahon of Don Bosco controlled No. 7 Tanner Scott of Eddyville-Blakesburg, 4-0. Top-ranked and returning champ Christopher Halblom of Alburnett joined teammate Shulista in the finals with a 10-5 win over No. 4 Brennan McNitt of CB St. Albert.

• 125 - One of the best final foursomes of the tournament. No. 1 Jake Kadel of New London/WMU rode No. 3 Brandon Welter the entire second period and earned the only point of the match with an escape in the third, for a 1-0 win.
  
  He will face No. 2 Logan Mulnix of North Linn for the title. Mulnix scored an impressive 9-4 win over No. 4 Jack O'Brien of Belle Plaine.

• 130 - Two of the best matches of the night. Top-ranked Derric Thomas made the finals for the fourth time and goes after his third title after a 3-2 win over No. 4 David Walker of Martensdale-St. Marys. Thomas was let go for an escape in the third and Walker could not finish off a possible late takedown before they went into the scorer's table.
  
  In the other semifinal, No. 3 Brayton Taylor of Prairie Valley and No. 2 Nolan Oviatt of Logan-Magnolia put their undefeated records on the line. Taylor jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead with a takedown and cradle, but Oviatt rallied with five points of his own in the second with a reversal and cradle. Taylor escaped for a 6-5 lead and chose up in the third. Oviatt could not get out and Taylor earned a pair of late back points for the 8-5 win.
  
  "I knew I was in for a good match, but I also knew I was going to keep attacking," Taylor said. "I knew I wasn't going to let him go anywhere in the third. I was just looking for any turn I could get."

• 135 - Ben Huber of Hudson outlasted Matt Smith of West Branch in the ultimate tiebreaker, 4-3. Huber rode Smith the final 30-second tiebreaker. He will meet top-ranked and two-time champ Cole Welter of Don Bosco, who had to hang on tight at the end for a 3-2 win over Tait Simpson of Lisbon.

• 140 - Two more wild bouts. Top-ranked and undefeated Matt Finch of HMS led No. 2 Robert Walker of M-SM 2-0 at the end of the first, but Walker put Finch on his back in the second and took a 5-4 lead into the third. Finch scored a takedown with 36 seconds left to knot the score at 6-6, but Walker escaped in the final seconds for the thrilling 7-6 win.
  
  "It feels amazing. It's what we've worked for all year. It was back and forth, but when I got in control I felt comfortable," Walker said. "I love the big atmosphere. I lost a heartbreaker to him last year."
  
  Walker will meet No. 5 Brode Hills of Louisa-Muscatine, who scored an escape and takedown in the third period for a 7-4 win over No. 3 Dallas Houchins of Interstate 35.

• 145 - Jensen of G-T, who won by injury default over Clay Welter, will meet No. 2 Justin Hoffman of East Buchanan in the finals. Hoffman scored a last-second reversal for a 2-0 win over unranked Rilen Carew of West Branch.

• 152 - No. 5 Tyler Ogburn of Corning fought off his back and put unranked freshman Gunnar Clark of West Hancock on his for the fall. Top-ranked Dimitri Boyer of Eddyville-Blakesburg earned a solid 5-1 win over No. 2 Tim Maroney of East Buchanan. Boyer pinned Ogburn in last week's Regional Duals.

• 160 - The wildest match of the night, bar none. Second-ranked Levi Peters of Twin River Valley and No. 7 Austin Even of Jesup gave the fans a treat with their semifinal bout. It was 4-4 at the end of the first period and Even led 9-7 at the end of the second. Peters reversed Even to his back at the end of the third and earned the fall. You had to see it to get how crazy it really was.
  
  "My matches get wild, but I wasn't expecting to be down with 30 seconds left and hit him with a big move like that," Peters said. "I just thought to myself I didn't do all this hard work for nothing.
  
  "I hit a funky roll. I had it really tight and saw his shoulder an inch from the mat and said I had to get it down."
  
  The other semifinal was also wild for the one minute it lasted. No. 3 Jason Frain and sixth-ranked Jayden Devilbiss of South Winneshiek were both on their backs for at least a second or two in the opening moments. Frain finally got a headlock from the bottom position and turned Devilbiss for the fall in 1:01.
  
  Frain and Peters have both finished second at State before, so tomorrow will be a great night for one and a tough repeat for the other.

• 171 - Top-ranked Quinn Wilson fought off a tough No. 4 Colton Van't Hof of Sioux Center, 10-6, while unranked Decoda Ward of Lisbon edged No. 5 Curtis Weber of Don Bosco, 3-1.

• 189 - No. 8 Bryce Olson of Eagle Grove scored a reversal with 35 seconds left for a 9-8 lead on No. 5 Dalton Peterson of Woodbine. When Peterson attempted to roll out from underneath, he was caught on his back and pinned in 5:44. It didn't take top-ranked Taylor Kettman quite that long to pin No. 4 Kyle Soderblom of Lynnville-Sully, as the Don finished off the match in 1:44.

• 215 - The two favorites all year will finally meet for the title. No.1 Jon Meyers handled No. 6 Doug Schwaller of Okoboji, 8-2, while No. 2 Jordan Simon of Aplington-Parkersburg held off a late charge by No. 3 Cade Lambson of Mount Ayr for a wild 19-15 win.

• 285 - Top-ranked Caleb Wilken earned a reversal in the second tiebreaker for a 3-2 win over No. 4 Caleb White of Tri-Center. He will face No. 3 Dylan Lame of Mount Ayr for the title. Lame headlocked Joe Koehn of Valley (Elgin) for the fall in 51 seconds.